The present invention relates to RF identification (RFID) tag systems, and particularly to RFID tags that communicate using frequency modulation.
Remote communication utilizing wireless equipment typically relies on radio frequency (RF) technology, which is employed in many industries. One application of RF technology is in locating, identifying, and tracking objects, such as animals, inventory, and vehicles.
RF identification (RFID) tag systems have been developed that facilitate monitoring of remote objects. As shown in FIG. 1, a basic RFID system 10 includes two components: an interrogator or reader 12, and a transponder (commonly called an RF tag) 14. The interrogator 12 and RF tag 14 include respective antennas 16, 18. In operation, the interrogator 12 transmits through its antenna 16 a radio frequency interrogation signal 20 to the antenna 18 of the RF tag 14. In response to receiving the interrogation signal 20, the RF tag 14 produces an amplitude-modulated response signal 22 that is modulated back to the interrogator 12 through the tag antenna 18 by a process known as backscatter.
The conventional RF tag 14 includes an amplitude modulator 24 with a switch 26, tag 14 is activated by the interrogation signal 20, a driver (not shown) creates a modulating on/off signal 27 based on an information code, typically an identification code, stored in a non-volatile memory (not shown) of the RF tag 14. The modulating signal 27 is applied to a control terminal of the switch 26, which causes the switch 26 to alternately open and close. When the switch 26 is open, the tag antenna 18 reflects a portion of the interrogation signal 20 back to the interrogator 12 as a portion 28 of the response signal 22. When the switch 26 is closed, the interrogation signal 20 travels through the switch 26 to ground, without being reflected, thereby creating a null portion 29 of the response signal 22. In other words, the interrogation signal 20 is amplitude-modulated to produce the response signal 22 by alternately reflecting and absorbing the interrogation signal 20 according to the modulating signal 27, which is characteristic of the stored information code. The RF tag 14 could also be modified so that the interrogation signal is reflected when the switch 26 is closed and absorbed when the switch 26 is open. Upon receiving the response signal 22, the interrogator 12 demodulates the response signal 22 to decode the information code represented by the response signal. The conventional RFID systems thus operate with an oscillator or clock in which the RF tag 14 modulates a RF carrier frequency to provide an indication to the interrogator 12 that the RF tag 14 is present.
The substantial advantage of RFID systems is the non-contact, non-line-of-sight capability of the technology. The interrogator 12 emits the interrogation signal 20 with a range from one inch to one hundred feet or more, depending upon its power output and the radio frequency used. Tags can be read through a variety of substances such as odor, fog, ice, paint, dirt, and other visually and environmentally challenging conditions where bar codes or other optically-read technologies would be useless. RF tags can also be read at remarkable speeds, in most cases responding in less than one hundred milliseconds.
A typical RF tag system 10 often contains a number of RF tags 14 and the interrogator 12. RF tags are divided into three main categories. These categories are beam-powered passive tags, battery-powered semi-passive tags, and active tags. Each operates in fundamentally different ways.
The beam-powered RF tag is often referred to as a passive device because it derives the energy needed for its operation from the interrogation signal beamed at it. The tag rectifies the field and changes the reflective characteristics of the tag itself, creating a change in reflectivity that is seen at the interrogator. A battery-powered semi-passive RF tag operates in a similar fashion, modulating its RF cross-section in order to reflect a delta to the interrogator to develop a communication link. Here, the battery is the source of the tag""s operational power. Finally, in the active RF tag, a transmitter is used to create its own radio frequency energy powered by the battery.
The range of communication for such tags varies according to the transmission power of the interrogator 12 and the RF tag 14. Battery-powered tags operating at 2,450 MHz have traditionally been limited to less than ten meters in range. However, devices with sufficient power can reach up to 200 meters in range, depending on the frequency and environmental characteristics.
Conventional continuous wave backscatter RF tag systems utilizing passive (no battery) RF tags require adequate power from the interrogation signal 20 to power the internal circuitry in the RF tag 14 used to amplitude-modulate the response signal 22 back to the interrogator 12. While this is successful for tags that are located in close proximity to an interrogator 12, for example less than three meters, this may be insufficient range for some applications, for example, which require greater than 100 meters.
The present invention provides a radio frequency identification system having a radio frequency transceiver for generating a continuous wave RF interrogation signal that impinges upon a RF identification tag. An oscillation circuit in the RF identification tag modulates the interrogation signal with a subcarrier of a predetermined frequency and modulates the frequency-modulated signal back to the transmitting interrogator. The interrogator recovers and analyzes the subcarrier signal and determines its frequency. According to one aspect of the invention, the interrogator generates an output indicative of the frequency of the subcarrier frequency, thereby identifying the responding RF identification tag as one of a xe2x80x9cclassxe2x80x9d of RF identification tags configured to respond with a subcarrier signal of a predetermined frequency.
According to various aspects of the invention, the RF identification tag includes a RF antenna configured to receive the interrogation signal, a rectifier having an input coupled to the radio frequency antenna and an output, and a tag oscillator having an input coupled to the output of the rectifier and an output coupled to an input of the RF antenna. The tag oscillator generates an output signal modulating the RF interrogation signal with the subcarrier RF signal.
According to one aspect of the invention, the RF identification tag oscillator further is either a single-transistor oscillator or a uni-junction transistor oscillator.
According to still other aspects of the invention, the tag oscillator in the RF identification tag is activated by the RF interrogation signal received at the tag antenna. According to various aspects of the invention, the RF tag system is a xe2x80x9cpassivexe2x80x9d system, wherein the tag oscillator is powered by a radio frequency signal received at the antenna. Alternatively, the RF identification tag is either a battery-powered semi-passive tag, or an active tag.
According to another aspect of the invention, the RF transceiver includes a radio frequency oscillator generating a RF interrogation signal, an antenna coupled to the radio frequency oscillator, and a detector coupled between the RF oscillator and the antenna for recovering a subcarrier RF signal from the interrogation signal.
According to various other aspects of the invention, the interrogator includes a RF antenna configured to transmit and receive RF signals with a RF oscillator coupled to the antenna by a strip line. The RF oscillator is configured to generate a continuous wave RF interrogation signal, and means are included for recovering the subcarrier frequency generated by the tag oscillator from the frequency-modulated interrogation signal. According to one aspect of the invention, the subcarrier recovery means include two terminals on the strip line between the antenna and the oscillator, the two terminals phase shifted from one another by ninety degrees. The recovered subcarrier frequency signal is amplified and applied to a comparator coupled between the two terminals on the strip line. A processor coupled to an output of the detector is configured to sample the recovered subcarrier radio frequency signal and determine a frequency of the recovered subcarrier radio frequency signal. The processor is further configured to output a signal indicative of the frequency of the recovered subcarrier signal.
According to yet other aspects of the invention, a method is provided for performing radio frequency identification, the method including generating a continuous wave RF interrogation signal in an interrogator/reader, detecting the RF interrogation signal in a RF identification tag, responsively modulating the RF interrogation signal in the RF identification tag with a subcarrier frequency; and modulating the frequency-modulated interrogation signal back to the interrogator/reader that generated the original RF interrogation signal.
According to one aspect of the method of the invention, the RF identification tag modulates the original RF interrogation signal by operating an oscillator, such as a single-transistor oscillator, in the RF tag and using the output of the oscillator to modulate the RF interrogation signal. The frequency-modulated signal is applied to an antenna portion of the RF tag for transmission back to the interrogator/reader.
According to still other aspects of the invention, the method includes recovering with the interrogator/reader the subcarrier frequency signal from the modulated interrogation signal, determining the frequency of the recovered subcarrier signal, and generating a signal indicative of the frequency of the recovered subcarrier signal.